1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to carbohydrate receptors and their use. Specifically, the invention relates to carbohydrate receptors for certain pathogenic bacteria and use of the receptors in the detection, removal, or purification of such bacteria and their parts.
2. Description of the Background Art
Respiratory tract infections are a major health problem with as many as 1.5 million cases of pneumonia occurring in the United States each year with a high mortality rate. In addition, chronic lung infections, that are inevitable in patients suffering from cystic fibrosis, result in even higher rates of mortality, at 70 to 80 percent. The major groups of bacteria responsible for these infections are Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and several aerobic, gram-negative bacilli, including Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas and Haemophilus species. To cause pneumonia, an organism must invade the normally sterile lung parenchyma and establish a large enough population at its surface to cause disease. For this to occur, the infecting microbe is likely to attach to cell-surfaces. Although some type of adhesion has been described for these pathogens, the receptors that mediate their attachment have not been identified by direct binding.
Recently, glycosphingolipids have been reported to be cell surface receptors for some pathogenic bacteria analogous to their proposed role as receptors in other cell-cell and cell-ligand interactions. For example, uropathogenic E. coli specifically bind to Gal.alpha.1-4Gal sequences in globoseries glycosphingolipids, that occur in the epithelial cells lining the urinary tract. Other bacteria that bind to glycosphingolipids include Actinomyces naeslundii, which binds to Gal.beta.1-3GalNAc and GalNAc.beta.1-3Gal sequences, and the Propionibacterium granulosum which binds to Gal.beta.1-4Glc sequences.
The industry is lacking a carbohydrate receptor for many other pathogenic bacteria and a method for using the receptor in the purification, detection, and removal of those bacteria.